The "Yellow Dock" or
"Curled Dock" is a common British weed, introduced and growing wild in North
America, where the provings were made. The common Dock of our fields and roadsides, Rumex obtusifolia, has a reputation among children as the best
antidote to the nettle's sting; a reputation which is very well deserved, as I can testify. Rumex crispus, according to Joslin, quoted by Hale, was used by
allopaths internally and externally for the cure of itch. This points to one of the leading
actions of Rx. c. as developed in the provings. Among
the constituents and salts of Rx. c. are Sulphur and Calc. Ph. (Hale);
and Sul., Calc., and Pho.
are strongly represented in its action. Rx. c., again,
is a close ally of Rheum, and has analogous purgative
and other properties. The provings were made by Houghton, Joslin, H. M. Paine, Bayard,
Rhees, &c., both with the tincture and with attenuations, and its characteristics were
well defined. A keynote of many Rx. c. cases is
sensitiveness to cold air. The cough and skin symptoms are <
by uncovering or exposure to air. Guernsey thus describes the cough of Rx. c.: "Cough caused by an incessant tickling in
throat-pit, which tickling runs down to the bifurcation of the bronchial tubes; touching the
throat brings on the cough; by covering up all the body and head with the bed-clothes there
is no cough." Correspondingly this symptom of Paine's has led to many cures of skin
cases: "While undressing, and for some time after,
considerable itching of surface of lower limbs "─where exposure to air is again the exciting cause. The characteristic
diarrha of Rx. c. occurs in the early morning, driving
the patient out of bed; it comes on after catarrh, and is often associated with the
characteristic cough of the remedy. The Rx. c. cough
causes expulsion of urine; and it may even cause expulsion of the ftus in pregnant women.
P. P. Wells relates this case (Hale): Mrs. X. had had eight miscarriages in the early
months, each miscarriage being attended with a dry, shaking, spasmodic cough in paroxysms of
great violence, which was regarded as the cause of the abortions. At the beginning of the
ninth pregnancy she came under homopathic treatment. The cough came on─very
dry, harsh, loud, shaking, < at night, preventing
sleep, excited instantly by pressure on the trachea. Rx. c.
30 promptly relieved. Wells also cured with Rx. c. 200
(Lehrman's preparation) the following in a man: Cough beginning with tickling behind top of
sternum, sometimes in paroxysms lasting for five to ten minutes. Trachea sore to external
pressure; feels excoriated through its whole extent, as also do the fauces. Cough is excited
by pressure on throat-pit; violent with scanty difficult expectoration; shakes head as if it
would fly to pieces and chest so that he feels he might raise blood any minute. Paroxysms
exhaust him; headache during cough. Joslin pointed out the left
chest had more verified symptoms than any other region. Further Conditions of Rx. c. are < lying on left
side; > lying on right side, <
At 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. Another Condition of the cough is that it is induced or < by any irregularity of respiration,
such as a little deeper breath than usual or a little more rapid. Cough when eating. Joslin
reports a number of cases of gastric derangement cured with Rx. c.
(1) A young lady had shootings from pit of stomach into
chest in various directions; sharp pains in left chest; dull aching in forehead and slight
nausea. One dose of 30th removed all her symptoms and restored her appetite. (2) A lady, 50, had had for three weeks pain in pit of stomach,
aching in left chest, flatulence, eructations, pains and distension in stomach after meals. Rx. c. 200, one dose, cured in two or three hours. (3) Young lady had sensation of fulness
and pressure in pit of stomach extending up towards throat, carried down on swallowing and
rising again to throat. Rx. c. 200 cured. (4) A gentleman not used to tea took a cup, very weak, of the
black kind; then followed aching in pit of stomach and aching above it in chest, and
especially on each side of lower end of sternum. Rx. c.
30 cured in a few minutes. The flatulence and rumbling of Rx. c.
are well marked, and I have found it the best general remedy for the painless but annoying
borborygmi frequently complained of by women. The left side is more markedly affected than
the right. The circulation is much disturbed, violent palpitations of the heart and
throbbing throughout the whole body being noted. Carleton Smith points out (H. P., x. 275) that in a case of cough cured by Cardoza with Rx. c. the characteristic was "cough only during the day,
not at all at night." This gives Rx. c. a place
beside Fer. and Mang.
Smith has cured with Rx. c. many cases of indigestion in
which this symptom was present: "Lump in throat, not >
by hawking or swallowing; it descends on deglutition, but immediately returns." Peculiar Sensations are: Eyes pain as if from dryness. Tongue as
if burned. Lump in throat; it descends on deglutition, but immediately returns. Hard
substance in pit of stomach. Bunch in throat or behind sternum. Pressure of a stick in
rectum. As if urine could not long be retained. As if she could not get another breath. As
if air did not penetrate chest. As if a feather swaying to and fro in bronchi. As if head
would fly to pieces (with cough). As if he might raise blood any minute. As if cough did not
reach low enough to raise phlegm. As if heart suddenly stopped. Sternum feels sprained. Raw
feeling under clavicles. Hands cold when coughing. The symptoms are <
by touch; pressure; riding. < By cold; > by warmth. < Change:
warm to cold or cold to warm; changing rooms. < Lying
down (pain in pit of stomach > lying perfectly
quiet). < Lying on left side; burning in left side. > Lying right side. <
Talking. < Deep inspiration; or irregularity of
breathing. < Walking. <
Evening and night; and morning on waking, 3.30 and 11 p.m., 2 to 5 a.m. < When eating and after meals. >
Discharge of offensive flatus.

Low-spirited: with serious expression of
face; with suicidal mood.─Irritable; disinclined to mental exertion.─Indifference
to surroundings.─Stagnation of ideas, lassitude, and uneasiness.

2. Head.─

Headache after waking in morning,
preceded by a disagreeable dream.─Dull (and bruised) pains: on r. side;
in occiput; in forehead with bruised feeling, < on
motion.─Darting pain or sharp piercing in l. side of head.─Catarrhal
headache with great irritation of larynx and trachea, clavicular pain and soreness behind
sternum.─Bruised sensation on waking, continued till noon, disappeared
suddenly after dinner.─Headache <
in open air.─Pungent drawing in l. occiput with a similar pain in l.
nostril and feeling as if coryza would ensue.

Great desire to pick nose.─Nose
obstructed; dry sensation, even in posterior nares.─Sudden, sharp,
tingling sensation in Schneiderian membrane, followed by violent and rapid sneezing five or
six times in succession, with watery discharge.─Violent sneezing with
watery coryza and headache), < evening and night.─Accumulation
of mucus about posterior nares.─Yellow mucus discharged through
posterior nares.─Epistaxis, violent sneezing, and painful irritation of
nostrils.─Influenza with violent catarrh, followed by bronchitis.

6. Face.─

Great paleness of face while standing.─Heat
of face; redness < evenings; dull headache; with
pulsations over whole body.─Pain in side of face, including r. temple
and ear; also l. side of upper lip.─Pain in r. jaw, morning.─After
retiring late at night, lancinating pains in lower jaw at root of l. canine teeth.

8. Mouth.─

Pain in teeth of both sides, morning.─Toothache:
entirely > after eating dinner; > by rinsing mouth with cold water.─Grumbling
stinging toothache in r. upper molars, while riding in a cold wind; with pain in forehead.─Tongue
coated: white; yellow; yellowish-brown, or reddish-brown.─Dryness of
anterior part of tongue, with sense of repletion in stomach and as if one had eaten spice.─Sensation
of excoriation at edges of tongue.─Front of tongue dry and hot.─Soreness
of r. edge of tongue.─Sensation as if tongue and mouth burnt.─Ulceration
of mouth and throat.─Taste: bitter (mornings); nasty; flat (on rising).─Flow
of saliva.

9. Throat.─

Scraping in throat; excoriated feeling
with secretion of mucus in upper part.─Sensation of a lump in throat,
not > by hawking or swallowing; it descends on
swallowing, but immediately returns.─Sensation of a lump in sophagus.─Aching
in pharynx with collection of tough mucus in fauces.─Catarrhal
affections of throat and fauces.─Throat dry, swallowing difficult; pain
in l. side on swallowing.

11. Stomach.─

Appetite: much increased lost.─Thirst.─After
meals: flatulency; heaviness in stomach or epigastrium aching in l. breast; pressure and
distension in stomach.─Nausea in night before diarrha.─Sensation
of hard substance in pit of stomach.─Fulness and pressure in pit of
stomach extending toward throat-pit; descends with every empty deglutition but immediately
returns.─Tight, suffocative, heavy ache in epigastrium, through to back;
clothes seem too tight; weak feeling in epigastrium, all <
when talking; frequently takes a long breath.─Shooting from pit of
stomach to chest; sharp in l. chest; slight nausea; dull aching in forehead.─Aching
and shooting in pit of stomach and above it on each side of sternum.─Eructations;
empty; tasteless.─Hiccough.─Pyrosis.─Nausea;
> by eructations.─Nausea and
vertigo while dressing in morning, compelling him to lie down again.─Sensation
of undigested food and upward pressure in throat-pit.─Severe pain in
digestive organs on waking.─Pain in stomach with the pain in the lungs.─Burning
and cutting in stomach.

12. Abdomen.─

Pain in hypochondrium from walking
or deep inspiration.─Griping near navel partially > by discharge of offensive flatus; flatulent colic soon after
a meal.─Pain occurring or <
during inspiration.─Sensation of heaviness and fulness in abdomen with
rumbling.─Borborygmus.─Pain in abdomen in morning,
followed by a stool.─Colic from a cold, with cough.

13. Stool and Anus.─

Stools: painless, offensive,
profuse; brown or black, thin or watery; preceded by pain in abdomen.─Before
stool: sudden urging, driving him out of bed in morning.─Morning
diarrha, with cough from tickling in throat-pit.─Diarrha 6 to 10
a.m.─Copious diarrhic stool with colic pain just above hypogastrium,
and a very disagreeable rumbling in bowels together with nausea and loss of appetite; these
sensations continued throughout the day with four or five evacuations which passed away in a
stream as if a large quantity would be discharged; nevertheless each discharge was suddenly
arrested, and the inclination passed away entirely for a short time; but on rising the
urgency returned, and on returning to the closet a new stream poured forth as before.─Fæces
black; scanty.─Constipation for several days, followed by a dry, hard
stool.─Itching at anus with discharge of offensive flatus.─Sensation
as from pressure of a rough stick forced up rectum, painful on walking.─Hæmorrhoids
protrude; much heat and itching at anus, and sensation as if a foreign body there.

14. Urinary Organs.─

Sudden urging.─Frequent
inclination with feeling as if urine could not long be retained.─Involuntary
micturition with cough.─Copious colourless urine in afternoon.─Urine
less copious, flocculent deposit, oily surface; marked brick-dust sediment.

15. Male Sexual Organs.─

Tendency to phimosis.─During
evening feeling of soreness and excoriation, with redness of end of prepuce.─Itching
of prepuce.─Sexual desire diminished; lost.

17. Respiratory Organs.─

Hoarseness < evenings: voice uncertain.─Voice:
changes suddenly on two consecutive days at 2 p.m. rose several notes; higher with catarrh
nasal.─Aphonia after exposure to cold.─(Reflex
aphonia from tubercle of l. apex.).─Tenacious mucus in larynx, constant
desire to hawk.─Violent irritation to cough in larynx while eating (at
three meals).─(Cough all day, >
lying down at night.).─Pain in top of larynx; mostly l. side.─Dry,
spasmodic cough, like beginning of whooping-cough; in paroxysms; preceded by tickling in
throat-pit, with congestion and slight pains in head, and wrenching pains in r. chest; began
a few minutes after lying down at night (11 p.m.); lasted 10 to 15 minutes, after which he
slept all right; a less severe paroxysm in bed on waking and throughout day this lasted two
weeks, when he began to expectorate adhesive mucus in small quantities, detached with
difficulty.─Hacking cough.─Cough < by any irregularity of breathing.─Hoarse,
hacking cough 11 p.m. and 2 to 5 a.m.─Cough with pain behind
mid-sternum.─Pressure on throat =
cough.─Dry, tickling, spasmodic cough, with tenderness in larynx and
trachea, rendering cough quite painful.─Teasing periodical cough, < in cool air or by anything which increases the volume or
rapidity of inspired air.─Cough <
from changing rooms.─Cough originally caused by inhaling extremely cold
air during winter, < lying down, esp. 11 p.m.─Cough
provoked by change from cold to warm or warm to cold.─Cough < lying l. side; >
lying r. > covering up mouth; > wearing respirator.─Sensation of
breathlessness as if air did not penetrate chest; or as when falling or passing rapidly
through the air.─Frequent feeling as if she could not get another
breath.

18. Chest.─

Clavicular pain; raw pain just under
each clavicle while hawking mucus from throat.─Pain in chest: in both
sides; dull aching in anterior part, with headache and belching.─Sharp
stitching or stinging through l. lung.─Acute stitch along l. margin of
sternum.─Burning stinging: in l. side near heart; in whole l. chest
suddenly when taking a deep inspiration while in act of lying down in bed at night.─At
3.30 p.m., while writing, at desk, stitches in substance of l. lung.─Burning,
shooting pain in r. chest.─Sharp pain near l. axilla.─Pain
in centre of l. lung.─Sternum feels sprained.─Great
pressure and sense of depression in upper part of breast.─Very sharp
pain in breast running r. to l.─Sharp cutting pain in l. breast at noon
lasting an hour.

19. Heart.─

Heart feels as if it suddenly stopped
beating; followed by a heavy throbbing.─Dull pain in region of heart,
with dull pain and heaviness in l. upper arm, esp. elbow.─Dull pain in
heart on deep inspirations.─Burning in region of heart.─Severe
stinging in region of heart, extending through chest to apex of l. scapula, with frequent
desire to take a deep breath, which < the pain
(afternoon for two or three hours).─Sharp pain in l. side of heart.─Palpitation:
after supper; < going upstairs; violent with
throbbing carotids.

20. Neck and Back.─

Sensation as if a thread were
tightly tied round neck just below ears, with a slight roaring in the ears.─Pain:
in back of neck; running down back.─Aching between scapulæ.─Stinging
burning just below inferior angle of l. scapula; followed and accompanied by stinging,
almost itching pain l. chest just below nipple.─Pain under r. scapula.─Pain
in l. scapula.─Burning pain in small of back near tip of r. sacro-iliac
joint.─Sore pain in l. sacro-iliac joint, lame as from over-lifting; < by sudden motion; followed by pulsation in nates.─Aching
and sense of great fatigue in loins.

21. Limbs.─

Twitching of r. arm and leg.─Pain
in upper and lower limbs of same or opposite side.

22. Upper Limbs.─

Pains in shoulder down to elbow,
arms feel strained.─Hands cold when coughing.─Bruised
aching and stinging pain in arms, hands, elbows, and r. wrist.

23. Lower Limbs.─

Stitching in back of r. hip;
limping walk.─Legs ache.─Stitch-like pain in
knee-joint when standing.─Legs covered with small red pimples.─Feet
cold.─Feet sensitive, stinging in corns.─Tender
feet.

24. Generalities.─

Lassitude and weariness.─Restless
in evening.─Pains not fixed or constant anywhere.─Throbbing
through whole body.─Unusual sensitiveness to cold or open air.

25. Skin.─

Itching in various parts, < on lower limbs.─Eruption covered
uniformly several regions of skin, with exception of face; itching more of a pricking than a
burning; < by cold, >
by warmth.─Contagious prurigo or "army itch.".─Stinging-itching
or prickling itching of skin.─Vesicular eruption, itching when uncovered
and exposed to cool air.─Periodic itch.─Urticaria; < in open air.

26. Sleep.─

Sleep: disturbed; wakeful, restless;
short naps and unpleasant fancies, even when awake.─Unpleasant dreams;
of danger and trouble; early in the morning; of being naked in the street; of murders; of
autopsies.─Wakes early with headache.

27. Fever.─

Chilly, <
on back; colic, nausea, stitches near middle of chest.─Increased
frequency of pulse and afternoon fever.─Sensation of heat, followed by
that of cold, without shivering.─Flushes of heat, < on cheeks.─Sweat on waking from a sound
sleep.